Impact of Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 during Periodontitis and Cardiovascular Diseases

Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) has been shown to play a key role in endothelial function and perhaps pivotal in the correlation between periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease (CVD). For the study, the impact of MMP-9 of periodontitis and CVD on serum and saliva concentrations was analyzed. For the study patients with periodontitis (n = 31), CVD (n = 31), periodontitis + CVD (n = 31), and healthy patients (n = 31) were enrolled. Clinical and demographic characteristics as well as serum and salivary MMP-9 were evaluated. MMP-9 concentrations in serum and saliva were statistically elevated in patients with CVD (p < 0.01) and in patients with periodontitis plus CVD (p < 0.001) compared to patients with periodontitis and healthy subjects. Multivariate regression analysis showed that c-reactive protein (hs-CRP) was the only significant predictor for MMP-9 serum (p < 0.001), whereas hs-CRP (p < 0.001) and total cholesterol (p = 0.029) were the statistically significant salivary MMP-9 predictors. This study evidenced that patients with CVD and periodontitis + CVD presented elevated MMP-9 concentrations in serum and saliva compared to patients with periodontitis and healthy subjects. Furthermore, hs-CRP was a negative predictor of serum and salivary MMP-9.     

Analysis of drug interactions with serum proteins and related binding agents by affinity capillary electrophoresis: A review

Biomolecules such as serum proteins can interact with drugs in the body and influence their pharmaceutical effects. Specific and precise methods that analyze these interactions are critical for drug development or monitoring and for diagnostic purposes. Affinity capillary electrophoresis (ACE) is one technique that can be used to examine the binding between drugs and serum proteins, or other agents found in serum or blood. This article will review the basic principles of ACE, along with related affinity-based capillary electrophoresis (CE) methods, and examine recent developments that have occurred in this field as related to the characterization of drug–protein interactions. An overview will be given of the various formats that can be used in ACE and CE for such work, including the relative advantages or weaknesses of each approach. Various applications of ACE and affinity-based CE methods for the analysis of drug interactions with serum proteins and other binding agents will also be presented. Applications of ACE and related techniques that will be discussed include drug interaction studies with serum agents, chiral drug separations employing serum proteins, and the use of CE in hybrid methods to characterize drug binding with serum proteins.     

Microfluidic systems for the analysis of blood-derived molecular biomarkers

Biomarkers are relevant indicators of the physiological state of an individual. Although biomarkers can be found in diseased tissue and different biofluids, sampling from blood plasma is relatively easy and less invasive. Among the molecular biomarkers that can be found circulating in plasma are proteins, metabolites, nucleic acids, and exosomes. Some of these plasma-circulating biomarkers are now employed for patient stratification in a broad range of diseases with high sensitivity and specificity and are useful in early diagnosis, initial risk assessment, and therapy selection. However, there is a pressing need to develop novel approaches for biomarker analysis that can be translated into clinical or other settings without complex methodologies or instrumentation. Microfluidics has been touted as a promising technology to carry out this task because it offers high-throughput, automation, multiplexed detection, and portability, possibly overcoming the bottleneck that prevent the translation of novel biomarkers to the point-of-care (POC). Here, we provide a review of the microfluidic systems that have been engineered to detect circulating molecular biomarkers in blood plasma. We also review the different microfluidic approaches for plasma enrichment, which are now being integrated with microfluidic-based biomarker analyzers. Such integration should lead to cost-effective solutions in in vitro diagnostics, with special relevance to POC platforms.     

高效液相色谱-四极杆/静电场轨道阱高分辨质谱法快速分析三子散的入血成分及代谢产物

蒙药三子散由诃子、川楝子、栀子3味药材等比例组成,其临床用药主要采用口服给药方式,药物在体内的吸收、分布、代谢、排泄过程与药物发挥药理作用和疗效的产生密切相关,因此考察灌胃给药后的入血成分有助于阐明三子散的药效物质基础。研究采用血清药物化学研究思路,将Wistar大鼠分成空白组和给药组,给药组给予三子散水提物,腹主动脉取血,离心制备血清样品,采用高效液相色谱-四极杆/静电场轨道阱高分辨质谱(HPLC-Q/Orbitrap HRMS),在SHIMADZU GIST C₁₈色谱柱(150 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm)上进行色谱分离;以甲醇和0.1%(v/v)甲酸水溶液为流动相进行梯度洗脱,柱温30 ℃,流速0.5 mL/min,进样量10 μL,采用加热电喷雾电离(HESI)源,正、负离子同时扫描。通过比对三子散含药血清和空白血清的图谱差异,查阅数据库、各类成分体内代谢途径、三子散成分的相关文献,采用Xcalibur 3.0软件进行峰提取、峰匹配等质谱数据处理,结合Compound Discover 3.0软件对化合物代谢途径的预测分析和裂解规律的推断,解析三子散水提液经大鼠灌胃后血清中的原型成分和代谢产物。结果表明,在给药大鼠血清样品中鉴定出55种入血成分,其中41种原型成分,14种代谢产物。入血的原型成分主要为鞣质类、环烯醚萜类和小分子酚酸类。该研究较为全面地阐释了三子散水提液在大鼠血中的移行成分,有助于揭示三子散的药效物质基础,为该药的临床应用提供参考。     

固相萃取-气相色谱-串联质谱法同时测定武汉市普通人群血清中35种有机氯农药与多氯联苯

有机氯农药(OCPs)和多氯联苯(PCBs)是两类重要的持久性有机污染物,可在环境介质中长期存在,并通过多种途径进入人体,导致人体的高暴露风险。OCPs和PCBs对人体存在诸多健康危害,精准定量人体内OCPs和PCBs的暴露水平是健康效应评价的关键。该研究基于固相萃取-气相色谱-串联质谱联用技术(SPE-GC-MS/MS)建立了同时检测100 μL血清中35种OCPs和PCBs的分析方法。血清样品经尿素沉淀蛋白后,采用Oasis^® HLB小柱净化,正己烷-二氯甲烷混合溶液(1∶1, v/v)洗脱,氮吹近干,正己烷定容,多反应监测(MRM)模式检测,内标法定量分析。结果表明,OCPs和PCBs在0.05~50.0 ng/mL范围内线性关系良好,检出限在1.2~71.4 ng/L之间。35种目标分析物的加标回收率在72.6%~142%之间,相对标准偏差小于25%。利用所建立的方法检测了武汉市普通人群血清样本中OCPs和PCBs的浓度水平,结果表明武汉市普通人群广泛暴露于OCPs和PCBs,且以OCPs为主。有8种OCPs和7种PCBs检出率高于50%,其中p,p'-滴滴伊、p,p'-滴滴滴和甲氧滴滴涕检出率达100%,非类二噁英PCBs是PCBs的主要成分。血清中OCPs浓度随年龄增长呈升高趋势,在60岁以上存在性别差异;不同性别、年龄人群血清中PCBs浓度无统计学差异。该方法样本用量少,操作简便,具有较高的准确度和精密度,适用于环境健康研究中大量人群血清样本中痕量OCPs和PCBs的生物监测。     

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SURFACE-HYPERBRANCHED MAGNETITE NANOPARTICLE FOR BOVINE SERUM ALBUMIN IMMOBILIZATION

A hyperbranched polyamidoamine polymer was synthesized on the surface of magnetite nanoparticles to enhance bovine serum albumin (BSA) immobilization efficiency. The amount of immobilized bovine serum albumin (BSA) on the surface-hyperbranched magnetite nanoparticle was up to 2.5 times as much as that of magnetite nanoparticle modified with only amino silane.     

U6 is unsuitable for normalization of serum miRNA levels in patients with sepsis or liver fibrosis

MicroRNA (miRNA) levels in serum have recently emerged as potential novel biomarkers for various diseases. miRNAs are routinely measured by standard quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR); however, the high sensitivity of qPCR demands appropriate normalization to correct for nonbiological variation. Presently, RNU6B (U6) is used for data normalization of circulating miRNAs in many studies. However, it was suggested that serum levels of U6 themselves might differ between individuals. Therefore, no consensus has been reached on the best normalization strategy in ‘circulating miRNA''. We analyzed U6 levels as well as levels of spiked-in SV40-RNA in sera of 44 healthy volunteers, 203 intensive care unit patients and 64 patients with liver fibrosis. Levels of U6 demonstrated a high variability in sera of healthy donors, patients with critical illness and liver fibrosis. This high variability could also be confirmed in sera of mice after the cecal ligation and puncture procedure. Most importantly, levels of circulating U6 were significantly upregulated in sera of patients with critical illness and sepsis compared with controls and correlated with established markers of inflammation. In patients with liver fibrosis, U6 levels were significantly downregulated. In contrast, levels of spiked-in SV40 displayed a significantly higher stability both in human cohorts (healthy, critical illness, liver fibrosis) and in mice. Thus, we conclude that U6 levels in the serum are dysregulated in a disease-specific manner. Therefore, U6 should not be used for data normalization of circulating miRNAs in inflammatory diseases and previous studies using this approach should be interpreted with caution. Further studies are warranted to identify specific regulatory processes of U6 levels in sepsis and liver fibrosis.     

长链脂肪酸影响胆红素-人血清蛋白复合物的激发态分化

胆红素与人血清白蛋白结合后会发生光异构和光诱导环化反应,其中后一反应将最终形成一种名为光红素的产物,这些光诱导化学反应是临床上治疗新生儿黄疸的基本原理. 据前人研究报道,长链脂肪酸的加入有利于光红素的生成,但其背后的机理,特别是其激发态动力学尚不明确. 本文利用飞秒瞬态吸收和飞秒荧光转换技术,探究了棕榈酸对胆红素在血清蛋白中的光化学反应的影响. 研究表明,随着棕榈酸的加入,光激发后的胆红素更倾向于通过4 ps的衰减通道返回热基态,而不是通过固有的超快激发态衰减途径(小于1 ps). 这一效应促进了热基态的胆红素发生由Z-Z到E-Z构型的异构化,从而提高了光红素的产率. 这是首次利用飞秒时间分辨光谱技术对长链脂肪酸在光疗过程中的作用进行表征,其结果可为相关临床研究提供有利的信息.     

Effect of bovine serum albumin on the surface properties of ionic liquid-type Gemini surfactant

The effect of bovine serum albumin on the surface properties of IL-type gemini surfactant ([C₁₀-4-C₁₀im]Br₂), have been investigated by surface tension method. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) as a function of BSA concentrations at various temperatures was investigated. The CMC of [C₁₀-4-C₁₀im]Br₂ increases with increasing the concentration of BSA as well as the temperature of the system. The interfacial parameters viz; maximum surface excess concentration (Γ_max), the minimum area per molecule (A_min), and surface pressure at CMC (Π_cmc) were calculated. In addition, thermodynamic parameters of adsorption and micellization were evaluated by using surface tension data. The results indicated that the binding of [C₁₀-4-C₁₀im]Br₂ to BSA is spontaneous and exothermic in nature. The process is entropy driven and hydrophobic interactions are the major driving forces.